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Although Picasso's "Gertrude Stein" has been exiled from the Metropolitan Museum's modern art galleries to the new 19th- and early 20th-century European galleries, she's just a few steps away, across the hall, from Jaws, who is temporarily menacing the contemporary art galleries. So I went to check whether what I have heard is true: That Damien Hirst's visiting shark is no … [Read more...] about Met Revises Its Hirst Shark Warning

It's Vernissage and Media Reception day for Art Basel Miami Beach! And is CultureGrrl on the scene, to report to you on the VIP onslaught? You know me better than that! I am not going to see the "20 cutting-edge art galleries presenting projects in shipping containers"; I refuse to attend the opening-night concert with Iggy and the Stooges on the beach; I'm taking a pass on … [Read more...] about Second Annual Art Basel Miami Sour Grapes Soufflé

Picasso, "Gertrude Stein," 1906, Bequest of Gertrude Stein ©1999 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Poor Gertrude Stein, above, must be rolling in her grave. I'll have much more to say soon about the Metropolitan Museum's renovated and expanded galleries for 19th- and early 20th-century European paintings and sculpture, which reopened to the public … [Read more...] about Gertrude Stein, Modern No More, at the Met’s Reopened Galleries

Hot Lot: The Guennol Lioness, Elam, ca. 3000-2800 B.C., estimated at $14-18 million [NOTE: My follow-up post on the auction result is here.] In the just published 30,000 Years of Art (Phaidon), the so-called "Lioness Demon" (above), a 5,000-year-old Elamite figure (from what is now Iran), is listed as belonging to the Brooklyn Museum of Art. It's not surprising that even some … [Read more...] about Guennol Lioness Auction: Brooklyn Museum to Lose Its Long-Term Loan

Mark Wallinger, "State Britain," 2006 Photo © Tate 2006 It was brazen enough earlier this year when the Tate Gallery mounted Mark Wallinger's antiwar State Britain exhibition (taking a strong stance against British policy in Iraq) along the full length of its stately Duveen Galleries (above). To see more on that show, go here. Now the government-subsidized museum has taken its … [Read more...] about Political Statement: Mark Wallinger Wins the Turner Prize UPDATED

This just in: The Virginia Supreme Court today effectively extended from today to Feb. 15 the deadline by which opponents to sales of art from Randolph College's Maier Museum, Lynchburg, VA, must raise $1 million to secure the temporary injunction that the court had previously granted against sales. The court ruled that it would be sufficient for sale opponents to file a surety … [Read more...] about News Flash: Maier Art Sale Opponents Win Another Court Victory UPDATED

(My previous posts on the new New Museum are here, here and here.) I'm not bothered as much as critic James Russell is that the interior architecture of the New Museum "almost vanishes entirely" (as he states in his Bloomberg review). I think there's something appropriate about a stark industrial loft aesthetic for just-created art. But I do agree with him that the unlovely … [Read more...] about The New Museum’s Architectural Rough Spots

Arquitectonica's Recent Wing for the Bronx Museum of the Arts Architectural criticism's big guns---Paul Goldberger (the New Yorker), Nicolai Ouroussoff (the NY Times) and James Russell (Bloomberg)---have already weighed in on the architectural strengths (the first two writers) and weaknesses (the last) of Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA's design for the new New Museum. I … [Read more...] about The New Museum Respects the ‘Hood UPDATED

You thought maybe now that Andrew Lloyd Webber got a favorable court ruling against a Nazi-loot claim for his Picasso, he might put it up for auction, to provide funds for his foundation, as had been originally planned? Think again. According to the London Independent, Lloyd Webber will now ask the British High Court to rule on whether he has clear title to "Angel Fernández de … [Read more...] about The Continuing Legal Saga of Lloyd Webber’s Picasso

(Note: My first post on the new New Museum is here.) The first show in the new New Museum's three floors of gallery space, "Unmonumental," is only one-third installed. A motley assortment of three-dimensional objects now occupies the floors and ceilings, but on Jan. 16 the pictures go on the walls and on Feb. 13 sound art will resonate. I'm not sure I'm looking forward to this … [Read more...] about On View at the New Museum: The Scruffy Stuff

Mary Cassatt, "Françoise in Green, Sewing" The ghost of Adelyn Breeskin intervened in the St. Louis Art Museum's attempt to sell its only Cassatt, "Françoise in Green, Sewing." The painting, which Cassatt expert Breeskin had exhibited at the Baltimore Museum, failed to find a buyer today at the same Christie's auction where the Bellows' "Men of the Docks" and two other works … [Read more...] about St. Louis Art Museum’s Cassatt Unsold at Auction

Rendering (not actual photo) of the new New Museum Before I get to yet another mischievous photo essay, let's cut to the chase: New York's new New Museum, despite its larger and more elegant Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA-designed digs (above), is still an uninstitutional institution, as envisioned by its late founder, Marcia Tucker. And that's all to the good: New … [Read more...] about The Un-Museum: Renewed New Museum Cuts to the Edge

Michael Conforti, director of the Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA, and president-elect of the Association of Art Museum Directors, must have too much time on his hands working on only three books during his current stint as scholar in residence at the American Academy in Rome. Along with Gianfranco Varvesi of the Italian Ministry of National Heritage and Cultural … [Read more...] about Rome Conference Discusses American-Italian Cultural Cooperation

A museum curator, who unfortunately would not allow me to quote his comments, sent me a well argued e-mail suggesting that my objections to museums' mounting single-collector exhibitions may make sense for large, prestigious museums, but are less persuasive for smaller museums that have a greater need for these shows and the possible art donations that can ensue. Similarly, the … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Honolulu Docent on Single-Collector Exhibitions

The Broadway strike is over! The NY Times has the story here. … [Read more...] about Yes! I Get to See Stoppard’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll” on Sunday!